| Summary: | Copy of an advertisement published in The New York Times by the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South. The ad describes nonviolent civil rights demonstrations across the South, specifically mentioning a protest by Alabama State College students in Montgomery, Alabama. It then discusses Martin Luther King, Jr., and the efforts of "Southern violators," whose "real purpose is to remove him physically as the leader to whom the students and millions of others--look for guidance and support, and then to intimidate all leaders who may rise in the South." In closing, the advertisement asks readers to donate money for the legal defense of King (who faces perjury charges) and of all "who are taking the risks, facing jail, and even death in a glorious re-affirmation of our Constitution and its Bill of Rights." Following the main text is a list of sponsors and officers of the committee, which includes many celebrities and well-known civil rights leaders. Also included is a typed draft of the ad, which omits the names of the sponsors. L. B. Sullivan, police commissioner of Montgomery, Alabama, filed a libel suit against The New York Times in response to this advertisement; the first copy here is stamped "Exhibit A," so it was probably used in the trial.
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